Oklahoma City LP: What the Investigation Missed--and Why It Still Matters (Paperback)

Description

On April 19, 1995, Timothy McVeigh drove into Oklahoma City in a rented Ryder truck and detonated a deadly fertilizer bomb, obliterating one-third of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building and killing 168 people. McVeigh claimed he conspired only with his old army buddy Terry Nichols, who had helped him make the bomb the day before. At least officially, the government believed him. But McVeigh's was just one version of events, and much of it was wrong.

In Oklahoma City, veteran investigative journalists Andrew Gumbel and Roger G. Charles puncture the myth about what happened on that day. Working with unprecedented access to government documents, a voluminous correspondence with Terry Nichols, and more than 150 interviews with those immediately involved, Gumbel and Charles demonstrate how much was missed beyond the guilt of the two principal defendants: in particular, the dysfunction within the country's law enforcement agencies and the unanswered question of who inspired the plot and who else might have been involved.

About the Author

Andrew Gumbel has worked for more than twenty years as a foreign correspondent for British newspapers the Guardian and the Independent, including assignments in the Balkans, Italy, the Middle East, and, since 1998, the United States. He has won awards for investigative reporting and political commentary, and written widely for U.S. publications including the Los Angeles Times and The Atlantic.

His book Steal This Vote: Dirty Elections and the Rotten History of Democracy in America was published to great acclaim in 2005. He was born in England and educated at Oxford University.

Roger G. Charles is a retired lieutenant colonel of the U.S. Marine Corps and an awardwinning investigative journalist who has worked with a wide variety of media outlets, including Newsweek, Vanity Fair, ABC (Nightline, Primetime Live), CBS's 60 Minutes II, and the BBC. In 1996 and 1997 he was a consultant on the Oklahoma City bombing for ABC's 20/20. He also worked as an investigator for Stephen Jones and the legal team defending Timothy McVeigh in his federal trial. Charles was born in Texas, raised in West Virginia, and graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, in 1967.

Praise for Oklahoma City LP: What the Investigation Missed--and Why It Still Matters…

“The story of the Murrah building bombing receives its most comprehensive accounting yet… It is a cautionary and at times startling tale, filled with bizarre characters from the outer fringes of American political life, with continuing relevance today.” -Michael Isikoff, The Daily Beast

“Impressive... There are enough freak-show touches to keep an FX drama stocked for three seasons… As Gumbel and Rogers tell it, the bombing investigation fell short of discovering the truth because of sloppiness, self-serving intra-office politics, and obstructive turf wars among law enforcement agencies.” -Salon

“A well-reported, sober assessment... They make a strong case that some individuals involved in the bombing remain at liberty...the message is important for the future security of the U.S. citizenry.” -Kansas City Star

“Credible and relevant... Offers a perspective other than what was proved at the trials of Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols...and explores the unsettling question of whether such an event could happen again by homegrown perpetrators.” -Tulsa World